THIS WEEKEND Chris
Rock seized control of the North American box office as his new comedy
Head of State debuted at number one
nudging fellow cross-cultural laugher, the three-term incumbent Bringing
Down the House, to the runner-up spot. The disaster thriller
The Core and the military suspense
pic Basic both opened in the top five
with mediocre results.

DreamWorks topped the charts with Head of State
which premiered with $13.5M from 2,151 theaters for a solid $6,278 average,
according to final studio figures.
The PG-13 comedy marked the directorial debut of Rock who also co-wrote,
produced, and starred. Bernie Mac also starred in the story of an ordinary
black man who turns the white political establishment upside-down when
he runs for the White House. The performance was similar to that of Rock's
2001 hit Down to Earth which in its
opening weekend averaged $6,850 from a $17.3M bow in a wider 2,521 theaters.
State gave the former Saturday Night
Live star his first number-one opening in a headlining role since the
gangsta rap spoof CB4 topped the charts
a decade ago in March 1993.

Studio research indicated that 55% of the audience was under 25 while
53% was female. African-Americans made up a majority of the crowd accounting
for 60% of the turnout. Moviegoers polled by CinemaScore.com gave the $35M
State a B+ grade. By beating out competing
new releases The Core and Basic,
both of which had several hundred more theaters, Head
of State proved once again that comedy was king in the current
box office climate and moviegoers would rather laugh than spend their time
and money on dark and violent films.

After three weeks at number one, Buena Vista's Bringing
Down the House settled for second place, but dipped only 23%
to $12.5M. That allowed the Steve Martin-Queen Latifah comedy to reach
$100.1M after 24 days of release.

Paramount debuted the center-of-the-earth thriller The
Core in third place with $12.1M from an ultrawide 3,017 locations
for a decent $3,995 average. Rated PG-13, the $60M disaster pic was clobbered
by critics and scored only a B grade from moviegoers polled by CinemaScore.com.

Opening close behind in fourth was the John Travolta mystery Basic
with $11.5M. The R-rated thriller averaged $4,003 from 2,876 sites and
earned the best reviews among the three freshmen, even though they were
not very glowing. CinemaScore.com patrons gave the Sony release a B grade.

Climbing one notch in the standings, and 17% in grosses, was the six-time
Oscar winner Chicago with $7.2M. In
its first frame since being honored as the best picture of last year, the
Miramax title watched its cume soar to $144.7M and is aiming for at least
$175M by the end of its run. Dreamcatcher from
Warner Bros. suffered the worst fall in the top ten plunging 56% to $6.6M
in its second weekend putting its ten-day gross at $25.6M.

MGM's kidpic Agent Cody Banks slid
30% to $6.4M for a $35.2M total. The Disney toon Piglet's
Big Movie eased just 19% to $4.9M upping the sum to $12.7M.
Paramount's The Hunted followed with
$3.6M and a $29.2M cume. View From the Top
rounded out the top ten with $3.5M giving the Miramax comedy only $12.3M
in ten days.

Fresh from its big Oscar night where it surprised most of the industry
with three big wins including best director and best actor, The
Pianist jumped 138% to $2.5M putting the Focus title in eleventh
place. An additional 233 theaters also helped the cause as the Roman Polanski
pic averaged $3,177 from 773 sites and raised its cume to $23.6M.

Best animated film winner Spirited Away
was put into national release with a new ad campaign and grossed $1.8M
from 711 theaters for a $2,483 average. Cume since its September domestic
release stands at $7.4M.

Fox Searchlight expanded its hit soccer comedy Bend
It Like Beckham from eight to 46 theaters and grossed $655,741
for a superb $14,255 average. The award-winning British film entered the
top twenty despite its narrow release and will widen to 24 more cities
on Friday for a total of 100 playdates. Cume is $1.2M.

Three films dropped out of the top ten this weekend. Old
School fell 38% to $2.4M giving the DreamWorks comedy $70.8M
to date. A $75-80M final cume is likely. Sony's Bruce Willis war pic Tears
of the Sun crumbled 55% to $2M for a $41.4M sum. Look for a
$45M final. Also falling apart was the Artisan comedy Boat
Trip which sank 56% to $1.7M. With only $6.7M in the bank, the
R-rated pic should conclude with under $10M.

The top ten films grossed $81.9M which was down 25% from last year when
Panic Room opened at number one with
$30.1M; but up 5% from 2001 when Spy Kids
debuted on top with $26.5M.

Compared to projections, Head of State
debuted a couple of notches below my $16M forecast. The
Core opened well below my $17M prediction, but Basic
was very close to my $13M projection.

Take this week's NEW Reader
Survey on next weekend's new action films. In last week's survey, readers
were asked which of three Oscar events was most surprising. Of 1,081 responses,
58% said Roman Polanski winning for Best Director, 34% said Gangs
of New York winning nothing, and 8% said Spirited
Away winning for Best Animated Film.

This column is updated three times each week: Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Data source: Exhibitor
Relations, EDI. Opinions expressed
in this column are those solely of the author.